Initial Shots: STI Trojan 5" .38 Super...

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. This is NOT a full-blown "range report" for the following reasons:

1. Too hot

2. Reloading supplies NOT in

3. Little factory ammo at my local dealer's

Pistol: Some weeks ago, I ordered a 5" STI Trojan w/adjustable sights and the "thick" (standard thickness 1911 grips) from STI. Cost was $1000 even. The gun came with one Mec-Gar 9-round magazine w/rounded follower. My extra 4 Mec-Gar magazines have the older, flat follower. All fed fine.

This is the pistol as I received it, complete with FLGR. This picture does not show it, but the front grip strap is now rounded like Kimber, Colt, and Springfield Armory to name a few. They used to have a more flat profile on the front strap. I think the rounded makes the "STIppling" provide a better grip. The stocks are new and look very nice, at least to me and I have no plans to change them.

Ammunition: I only had two types of ammunition to shoot in the Trojan today. Both are 130-grain ball from PMC and Remington UMC. Both are marked +P. I chronographed these loads from the Trojan and based on 10-shot strings, got the following:

PMC 130-gr FMJ +P: 1091 ft/sec
ES: 35
SD: 12

Remington UMC 130-gr FMJ +P: 1231 ft/sec
ES: 86
SD: 23

I had no "interesting" JHP's to shoot...today. I'll do a full report in the future.

Shooting: I fired at 15 and 25 yards today. The 15-yd groups were fired standing and w/2-hand hold. The 25 yard groups were fired from a rest.

It's pretty obvious that the gun will shoot better than I ever will.

Even with a significant difference in velocities between the two loads, the POI was virtually the same at 25 yards.

There were no failures with the pistol. The magazine that was supplied was difficult to seat with a full magazine, but the others were not. The ejector is NOT touched by either magazine or loaded rounds.

I couldn't measure the trigger pull, but estimate it right at a crisp 4 lbs.

Only a couple of clicks were necessary to have the pistol sighted in for me with the loads shot today. I think this pistol has potential to reloaders.

We'll see.

Best.

 

[Daniel T]

Very nice. It seems pretty accurate.

A question: how did the .38 Super recoil feel compared to .45 in a comparable pistol? I've never fired .38 Super before, so I'm curious.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. Felt recoil to me was light. It might be described as being like a 200 gr .45 ACP @ 700 ft/sec or so. Neither of the loads was to the caliber's potential.

Best.

 

[GeneS]

Thanks for the review Mr. Camp. Two friends that I shoot IDPA with have 9mm Trojans on order. I'm looking forward to taking one for a test drive.

 

[CWL]

No wonder so many gamers pack .38 supers.

I'd like to see your follow-up using handloads.

 

[Will Fennell]

9x23mm

Stephen,
That gun is begging to be shot with 9x23mm! Its just a new barrel, or a chamber reamer away.......and it is MUCH hotter than any commercial super load.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello, Mr. Fennell. I am in fact considering having a new bbl in that very caliber fitted...in the future. Gotta shoot it "some" first.

Thank you and best.

 

[New_comer]

Thanks for your report, Stephen!

Whether short or long, you always come out with quality write-ups. Keep them coming!

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Best.

 

[PCRCCW]

Good day Mr. Camp,
I recently acquired a 5" 45 Trojan and shot it yesterday for the first time.
WOW....It will be my goal to shoot like this gun CAN...LOL
From an offhand rest it stayed within an 1" or so from 15 yds....very nice.
This gun has Heine Straight Eight nights on it....much better for ME than the Bomar Adj's. I have to agree the rounded front strap with the STIppling is the most comfy 1911 Ive owned/shot. Great feel to it.
Thank you for your review...I feel the same way. Top notch stuff.
Shoot well...

 

[asiparks]

very nice review of what looks like quite a tasty shooter Mr Camp, love to know how she breaks in with further use. The 9X23 sounds very interesting.....

 

[RepublicanMan]

Not to hijack your thread but.....

I have a set of dies for .38 Super that I'd like to sell if you or anyone you know is interested.
I don't reload so they are of no use to me.

 

[WonderNine]

Those have got to be the nicest low profile adjustable sights I've ever seen. Who makes them?

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I'm not sure who makes them, but they are clones of the Bomar adj sight.

Best.

 

[Bren]

The 10mm voodoo still isn't working!

Remember the Norinco voodoo?


DOH! out of needles,,, I'll be back.



Cause I'm a voodoo chile,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello, RepublicanMan. I'd take you up on your kind offer to sell .38 Super dies, but already have some ordered. Thanks again.

Best.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I'm still waiting on significant numbers of brass to arrive, but did do three handloads with the .38 Super. I didn't take any pictures at the range as I simply forgot the camera! Did take pictures of the recovered bullets that were fired into water when I got home.

I tried three loads using 8.4-gr of Blue Dot powder. Two weighed 147-gr with one at 124-gr. The heavier bullets were JHP's. One was Hornady's 147-gr 9mm XTP and the other some older Remington 147-gr 9mm JHP, but were not Golden Sabers. The 124-gr bullet was a 9mm Rainier plated RN. All used Winchester Small Pistol Primers and all were loaded to 1.235" LOA. Both of the JHP loads were fired using Remington UMC cases while the Rainiers were fired from PMC cases. All had been once-fired.

Based on the loading data I was using, I'd estimated velocities to be around 1150 ft/sec to 1250 ft/sec.

I didn't load many as I only wanted to shoot a couple of initial groups to see if they seemed accurate, test function, look for pressure signs, and chronograph.

Chronograph Results:

Handload w/Remington 147-gr JHP:

This one was chronographed twice and resulted in average velocities of 1423 and 1350 ft/sec, but with Extreme Spreads of 114 and 185 ft/sec! Not good.

Handload w/Hornady 147-gr XTP:

It was also checked twice with average velocities of 1320 and 1318 for each 10-shot string! Std. Deviations were both 4 ft/sec!

I also fired each of the JHP loads into water.

As can be seen, even at higher-than-intended speeds the older Remington's showed zero expansion.

The XTP's impacting at an average velocity of 1318 to 1320 ft/sec expanded to: 0.59 x 0.58 x 0.54" tall and 0.58 x 0.56 x 0.49" tall. They weighed 147.0 grains and 147.2 grains, respectively.

These rounds showed no pressure signs and the XTP load will go with me this deer season. The Trojan fed and extracted them fine.

The Rainier 124-grain PRN averaged 1319 ft/sec with an Extreme Spread of 12 and SD of 5. It grouped well.

I'll probably settle on the XTP load for things in the field and use the Rainer bullets for target work. Again, not much shooting's been done, but the two loads hit very, very close to the same POI at 15 and 20 yards.

Best.